Family Guy: Season 10 (DVD)

I know it's lame and rather juvenile, but I do get a kid out of hearing kids swear. In particular, it always tickles me when they have baby Stewie saying fuck. And believe me, this new Family Guy box set features Stewie saying fuck A LOT.

Released as Season 10 in the UK, this set actually includes episodes from the US seasons 8 and 9, but however confusing (and nonsensical) the numerical titling is, there are some great episodes here. The standout is easily Partial Terms of Endearment, the notorious abortion episode that was not allowed to be shown on television in the US (it has, though, aired in other countries). It actually tackles the whole abortion argument in a sharp, pointed and astute manner – and yes, it's also wickedly funny.

The 150th episode, Brian and Stewie, is also terrific. The pair are locked in a bank vault over a weekend, and with nothing but time on their hands, open up and share their true feelngs for each other. Of course, this being Family Guy, there has to be someof the trademark gross-out humour that enrages the moral guardians. And in this episode, it comes in the form of Brian dining out on the contents of Stewie's nappy. I kid you not – Brian eat's Stewie's poo. Yeah it's sick, and disgusting, and utterly reprehensible. But it's also very, very funny.

Elsewhere, Peter gets amnesia and then beconmes a psychic (not at the same time, of course); Meg goes to prison and comes back as a bull dyke, while Peter gets raped by a bull; Peter gets sexually harassed at work; Peter takes over his father-in-law's business; Brian gets a TV script produced; Quagmire learns his father is a big gay phoque (or is he simply a woman trapped in a man's body?); the guys pay Cleveland a visit on a quest for the source of a dirty joke; a few people die at James Woods's house in the special two-part murder mystery And Then There Were Fewer (which is also the first 16:9 HD episode of Family Guy); and Brian turns right wing and befriends Rush Limbaugh.

It's been running (on and off, thanks to Fox cancelling it twice) for over a decade, but Family Guy is still one of the most outrageous and irreverent shows on the box. And one of the funniest. For me it's unmissable, and these DVD box sets are a must for the collection – mainly because the episodes have such a high rewatchability factor. Yes, fart gags and all.

EXTRAS ★★★★ Previous Family Guy DVD releases came with audio commentaries on every episode. Not the case this time, sadly – Seth and the gang voice their opinions on just a handful, including Partial Terms of Endearment, Brian and Stewie and the two-part And Then There Were Fewer. Other extras include deleted scenes; animatic episodes; the "lost" phone call from Briand and Stewie; the featurette The Making of And Then There Were Fewer (13;17); the featurette The History of the World According to Family Guy (21:00);Family Guy at Comic-Con 2010 (30:13); and a bonus episode from America Dad, the James Bond spoof Tearjerker.

Stuart O'Connor is the Managing Editor of Screenjabber, the movie review website he co-founded with Neil Davey far too many years ago. He likes all genres, as long as the film is good (although he does enjoy the occasional bad "guilty pleasure"), and drinks way too much coffee.

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